Interview: Snotkop

You've sung in other South African languages before. What appeals to you about singing in Afrikaans?I started out in kwaito as Lekgoa and spent an unbelievable six years of my life doing that. I toured through Africa, I played in London and France. Now I'm singing in Afrikaans as Snotkop.

It's a joy for me because now I'm connecting with people who speak Afrikaans. I'm a boerseun and Afrikaans is my mother tongue. Because of that there's a much deeper connection, because I talk about stuff I experienced as a young Afrikaans laaitie at school, at university and even stuff I'm going through now...

What would you say to people that suggest your music, or more specifically, your music videos, are a bad influence?I wouldn't say my music is of the kind that can have a bad influence on young people. I just sing about stuff that's "real", you know? My videos are slightly left-of-centre. I push the boundaries when I can and you'll find sexy girls and dancing in my videos. They can get a bit wild but I do have boundaries...

See for yourself, watch Snotkop's "Katrien" video

You've translated a few songs from English into Afrikaans, with quite some success. Are you planning on making more of these cover versions in the future?Yes, the Offspring Cover ["Kry Jou Ass By Die Werk"] did very well. I'm now recording my third album, which will be out in October and it will contain quite a few surprises.

It's just a Snotkop thing: that's what I do and everybody knows it. I take songs and translate them into Afrikaans and try and bring them closer to Afrikaans culture so people can better connect with them.

Describe your perfect night out...My perfect night out would involve lekker music, all my best friends and a club full of people. Some cute girls would also help, of course.

What are your thoughts on the passing of Michael Jackson? I wouldn't say Michael Jackson's death affected me so badly, but it is a loss for the music industry. I think I would be much more affected if something happened to one of our local legends, like Anton Goosen or Koos Kombuis. I think that would affect me quite deeply. Still, Michael Jackson's death is a loss for the music industry, definitely.

Far from what his name suggests, Snotkop is quite the friendly young man when you meet him face-to-face. Put him on a stage, however, and he's all party animal. We chatted to the Afrikaans pop troublemaker on tour to promote the new tvplus photo soapie, Bay City. Check out the Afrikaans video interview or read translated excerpts from the interview below...

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